Opuama, Warri North, Delta State Residents of Opuama community have raised an urgent alarm over the worsening condition of schools in the area, citing severe infrastructure decay and a critical shortage of teachers across their three major schools.
During a visit to the community, it was observed that classrooms had leaking roofs, broken ceilings, and inadequate furniture. Some pupils sat on shattered desks, while others learned from the bare floor due to the lack of chairs and desks.
Dr Macaulay Owen, Chairman of the Opuama Education Committee, expressed the frustration of the community over the situation. He said, “Classrooms and buildings are dilapidated, and we need government attention. We also face a shortage of teachers in our schools.”
According to him, only three government teachers are posted to each of the two primary schools—Oloduwa and Azama—as well as five teachers managing the entire secondary school from Junior Secondary School 1 to Senior Secondary School 3.
“We are short of teachers. For this reason, the community engaged almost 15 teachers in these various schools, where a minimum of N100,000 is paid monthly. This is huge for the community to continue to bear, as we know that without teachers, pupils and students cannot learn. The purse of the community is drastically drained,” he lamented.
Dr Owen called on the state government to urgently deploy qualified teachers to Opuama, noting that previous deployments had failed because some teachers declined to stay in the riverine area.
“Some said they cannot sleep there because it is a riverine area they are not used to. We have qualified sons and daughters who can be employed by the government, and we are sure they would not hesitate to report for work in their area that they are familiar with,” he said.
Efforts made by the community to draw the attention of authorities have yet to yield results. “We wrote a letter to the Ministry of Basic and Secondary Education, but we have not received any response. We are still expecting the government to come to our aid,” Owen added.
When contacted, the Delta State Commissioner for Primary Education, Dr Kingsley Ashibogwu, acknowledged some level of government intervention. He said, “I’m aware that there is renovation work going on at Azama Zone primary school. We have employed teachers, and there is a ratio of classroom teachers to pupils. We will look into it because they are now writing their exams.”
